By Bampia James Bundu
Stakeholders in the northern town of Lunsar have warned a local radio station to stop “reckless journalism and avoid fanning the flames of discord in the community”.
The community leaders of Marampa chiefdom claimed that they had to stop the Radio Lunsar,which broadcast talk show programmes at weekends, to stop attacking personalities of people in the community.
In a meeting in Lunsar with Stanley Bangura, the vice president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Paramount ChiefBaiKoblo Queen expressed disappointment over the management of the radio.
“The management allows guests to attack the personalities of community authorities for no good reasons” he alleged, adding that “they maliciously abused and condemned authorities of the community without due consideration to the laws of the land.”
The chief said the radio station allowed people to refer to authorities as “rats” on air, adding that even his own personality was attacked by the same people. He said that that particular radio had the power to make and unmake the community and urged SLAJ and the country’s media regulator to take action against the radio station management.
Chairman of the Lunsar Board of Imams, Pa Alhaji Sorie Ibrahim, appealed for caution and blamed the cause of the problem on politics. He said his personality had been attacked and was called “hypocrite” and “liar” by one Osman Karankay Kamara but the moderator could not do anything about it.
Senior District Officer in Port Loko, Mohamed Kargbo, urged authorities in Lunsar to behave as role models and serve the purpose for which they had been elected or appointed for. He also called on the station manager to maintain professionalism.
“Journalists should not allow themselves to be dragged into whatever differences stakeholders might have. They should always stay in the middle and provide equal space for all to coexist,” he said.
The station manager, Alhaji Labbeh, apologised to SLAJ’s vice president and the authorities for any “professional misconduct.” He noted that the problem of the radio was not its management but “some political authorities who had always incited others when they are given the opportunity to talk on radio.”
He said they had tried their best and promised that they would continue to ensure that the community was served professionally.
Vice president of the journalists association,Mr. Bangura, blamed the station management and community authorities for the poor performance. He said he had had about three meetings with stakeholders of the community and the management of the radio, noting that the status of the radio was not well-defined.
Mr. Bangura further stated that the radio was registered with IMC as a commercial radio but people wanted to use it as a community radio “which is not proper.” He said if the people wanted to use the radio as a community radio, they needed to regularise their status from a commercial to a community radio.
He advised the station management to do their work professionally and independently. “The radio is not a place to settle problems or attack personalities,” Bangura said.
(C) Politico 30/09/14
